Wagon.



No. 655,835. Patented Aug. I4, |900. W. 0. SHADBOLT.

WAGON.

(Application led Sept. 28, 1898.)

(No Model.)

4 Sheets-Sheet l,

*il 5 5 r JL WITNESSES: INVENTOR ATTORNEY rrrrrrrr 1s vmzas cc. vnoorumo.. WASHINGTON, n c.

No. 655,835. Patented Aug. I4, |900.-

` W. 0. SHADBOLT.

W A G 0 N (Application led Sept. 28, 189B.)

4 Sheets-Sheet 2.

(No Model.)

|NVENT0R 7 WITNESSES:

ATTORN EY No. 655,835. Patented Aug. I4, |900.

W. 0. SHADBULT.

WAGON.

l (Application Bled Sept. 28, 1898.) (No Modem 4 Sheets-Sheet 3.

w* S ig N ib O WITNESSES: INVENTOR ffz/ffww www mwa @MQ/Q @0% g S/"7 ATTORNEY 'N0. 655,835. Patented Aug. I4, |900.`

. W. 0.,SHA`DBOLT.

WAGON.

(Application led Sept. 2S, 1898.) (No Modal.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 4,

WITNESSES: INVENTOR WM 9% 5MM zu @l @0% X ATTORNEY Ynz ncnms Enns da, Pumaumo.. WASHINGTON. n. c.

'rares PATENT Ormea.

WILLIAM OSCAR SHADBOLT, OF NEXV YORK, N. Y.

WAGON.

SPECIFICATION forming part of vLetters Patent N o. 655,835, dated August 14, 19010:.

Application tiled September 28, 1898.v SerialNo. 692.071. (No model.)

To all wir/0m it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM OsoAR SHAD- BOLT, a citizen of the United States, residing in the city of New York, borough of Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Vtagons or Vehicles, of which the following is a specification.,

This invention relates to four-wheeled vehicles or wagons; and it has especial reference to those with low or drop bodies and with a bay under the front part of the body in which the front wheels turn. In this general class of vehicles, of which milk-wagons, ice-wagons, dac., are types, several disadvantages arise from the more common and heretofore-proposed constructions. Where the body depends between the front wheels, the wagon cannot be turned short and cannot, therefore, be used in `narrow and crowded streets. Where there is a bay formed under the front part of the body and the front wheels are spaced in the ordinary way, the body must extend back so far as to destroy a great deal of space in the body, and if this space be restored by extending the deeper portion of the body to the rear such disproportion is produced in the body and the weight is thrown so disproportionately on the axles that the draft on the vehicle is much increased. It will be obvious that where only a single front wheel is used some of the above disabilities are overcome; but the single wheel has itself very objectionablefeatures, one of the more important being its inability to rotate when the horses are beingturned at right angles to the body or the vehicle is being turned short. Such a vehicle is also lacking in stability, and as the single wheel is brought directly under the king-bolt the platform forming the top of the bay must be proportionately elevated, and this reduces the available room in the body. To overcome these defects in a vehicle having a drop-body is one of the principal objects of the present invention, which will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein it is illustrated as embodied in a milk-wagon.

In the drawings, Figure l is a side elevation of the wagon. Fig. 2 is a front elevation thereof; andv Fig. 3 is a sectional plan, the

plane of the section being indicated by the line x3 in Fig. l. Fig. t is an enlarged view of the front axle, and Fig. 5 is an enlarged View of one of the springs at the rear or hind axle. Figs. 6, 7, and S are views corresponding to Figs. l, 2, and 3, respectively, and illustrating a slightly-different embodiment of the invention.

1 is the drop-body as a whole. The details of the body are not illustrated, as they are not material to the invention. It will be noted that there is a bay 2 formed under the front end of the body to receive or provide room for the front Wheels, their axle, the iifth-wheels, duc. It is important in the construction of this class of vehicles that the main portion of the body shall depend low enough and that this deep portion shall extend as far forward as possible consistent with the employment of two front wheels of sufficient size adapted to turn under the body, so that the front axle may occupy a position at right angles to the rear axle.

3 is the front axle; 44,the two front springs; 5 V5, the two front wheels 6, the fifth-wheels 5 7, the hounds; 8, the king-bolt block, and 9 the king-bolt.

6a is the splinter-bar or front transverse lnember of the fifth-wheel frame, and 6b represents the side members of said frame.

In a construction of this character it is desirable to limit the size of the bay 2 as much as possible both as to its vertical depth and its extension rearwardly, and to attain this object I employ two front wheels, bring them quite close together, and secure the springs 4 4t or other equivalent supports to the respective outer ends of the relatively-short axle 3, exterior to the wheels, thereby bringing the wheels laterally within the limits of the fifthwheel frame, the sides of which rest on the springs. As the king-bolt comes between the wheels, this construction permits the iifthwheels and their frame to be set down low and the vertical depth of the bay 2 to be thus reduced.

Fig. 4 shows more in detail the construction and form of the front axle 3. It will be noted that this axle consists, practically, of two tapered axle-arms 3a, separated by a central collar 3b, the axes of the arms being out of alinement to an extent sufficient to bring the IOO rims of the two front wheels nearer togetherat the ground than at their crowns, as seen in Fig. 2. On the outer ends of the arms are loose hub-washers 3C. Beyond these are springarms 3d to receive the clips la of the springs, and still beyond these arms are screw-threaded extensions 3e to receive broad nuts 3g. The spring-arms 3d will be as large as can be conveniently formed on the end of the axlearm 3a and be of the proper length to receive the spring-blocks and springs. The middle or central collar 3b may be about two inches across the face and be shrunk onto the axle, or two collars may be used. It will be noted that the front wheels are included laterally within the space circumscribed by the ft'nwheel and within the width of the narrowest part of the body. In Figs. 1 and 5 the preferred construction of the rear portion of the body 1 for this kind of wagon and the preferred construction of the rear springs are fully illustrated. In order to avoid the use of a cranked axle, a shallow bay 2x is formed in the rear end of the bottom of the dropbody, and the rear axle 10 occupies a position in this bay.t The rear or hind wheels l1 may be mounted in the usual way on this axle. The spring 12, supporting the rear portion of the body on the axle 10, is composed of two members or elements 12 and 12b, both formed of laminas or plates, Fig. 5, and secured to the body, one in front of the axle 10 and the other back of the same. The member 12a in front of the axle is attached to the'bottom of the lowest portion of the body, extends rearwardly, curves upwardly about and over the axle, and is secured thereto by clips. The member 12b is attached to the bottom of the bay 2", above the level of the member 2, ex-

tends forward, curves downward about the axle, and is secured thereto at the same point with the member 12, Thus the weight of the body is distributed between the two members ofv the spring.

It will be obvious that with my construction of a drop-body vehicle, above described, I obtain all of the advantages due to the use of two front wheels without the disadvantages arising from a long axle and the advantages of compactness due to the use of a single front wheel without its several disadvantages in vehicles of this kind.

Springs are commonly employed in this class of vehicles for supporting the body on the front axle; but where springs are not desirable rigid supports may be substituted therefor without departing from the spirit of my invention. The arms 3d on the front axle, to which the springs or other supports are secured, are herein shown as square in crosssection; but this is not material to myinventionnor are the nuts 3g essential. They are merely convenient precautionary devices to prevent the clips from slipping oft the arms 3d if they should become loosened.

In Figs. 6, 7, and 8 I have shown myinvention. applied toa wagon for transporting dead horses and the like and have illustrated in it some slight modifications of the construction. As to the front part of the wagon the portion of the body above the bay 2 is made somewhat narrower than the drop portion, the front wheels are set a little wider apart than iu the construction of Figs. 1 to 3, and the fifth wheels 6 are of less diameter. The hounds '7 are constructed of one piece forked to form jaws at the front end, and on this piece forming the hounds is iixed a blockpiece 7% into which the king-bolt enters. The clips on the fth-wheel frame, to which the ends ot the spring Llare coupled, are connected together by a metal strip or plate 4b. (Seen in Fig. G.) The arm 3d on the end of the axlearm 3, to which the spring is secured, is not square, but forms a cylindrical continuation of the arm 3a, the upper surface being flattened oft to form a seat for the block which supports the spring. At therear or hinder part of the wagon the hind axle 10a is cranked,

land the spring 12 has its two members secured to the body on the same level. Obviously this form of spring may be employed for supporting the front end of the body as well as the rear end.

One of the characteristic features of this invention is the employment of fifth-wheels of large diameter extending out laterally be- Y youd the front wheels and the arrangement of the springs or other support-s for the front end of the body directly over the non-rotative axle at the sides of the wheels and between the eudsof said axle and the side members of the fifth-wheel frame.

I-Iaving thus described my invention, I claim- 1. A gear for the front of a drop-body vehicle, comprising fifth-wheels and their frame, a non-rotative axle, two wheels rotatively mounted on said axle between the side members of said frame, and supports between the respective ends of said axle and said frame and fixed to the axle exterior to the wheels, substantially as set forth.

2. A gear for the front end of a drop-body vehicle, comprising fifth-wheels 6 andtheir frame, an axle, two wheels rotative thereon, and springs between the respective ends of the axle and said frame, exterior to the wheels, and fixed to said axle and frame, substantially as set forth.

3. A four-wheeled vehicle having a dropbody with a bay at its front end, fifth-wheels and their frame within said bay, a non-rotative front axle, two front wheels rotative thereon, and supports for the body, laterally exterior to the wheels and between the axle and the horizontally-rotative part of the fifthwheel frame, said bay extending entirely across the body, whereby the front gear may be turned on the king-bolt through ninety degrees, substantially as set forth.

4c.v The combination with the drop-body of the vehicle, having a bay at its front end extending entirely across the body and open at IOO the sides thereof, of the fifth-Wheels 6 and their frame, situated Within said bay, the front axle 3, the springs connecting the respective ends of said axle with the fifth-Wheel frame, and the two front wheels 5, mounted rotatively on said axle between said springs, substantially as set forth.

5. As an article of manufacture, the vehiclespring 12, consisting of two tapered members, 12a and 12b, connected together at their thin- :ner ends, the former having a quarter-turn bend and the latter a three-quarter-t urn bend, and the arms of the members extending in opposite directions, substantially as set forth.

6. In a vehicle, the combination with the rear axle, of a spring 12, comprising the front member 12' and rear member 12b, said front member extending rearwardly and curving upward over the axle toward the front and said rear member extending forward and curving down over the axle, said spring members being secured to said axle.

7. A vehicle having a drop-body with abay at its rear end, a rear axle within said bay, and rear springs connecting said axle with the body, said springs each consisting of a front member 12a, fixed to the drop portion of the body and extending ,rearwardly and about the said axle, and a rear member 12", attached to the elevated rear portion of the body and extending forward and about the said axle, both spring members being secured to the axle.

In Witness whereof I have hereunto signed my name, this 21st day of September, 1898, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

v W. OSCAR SHADBOLT.

Vitnesses:

HENRY CONNETT, PETER A. Ross. 

